


Tell Me What You Want This To Be

by miraline_tpp



Category: The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, agnes is bad at dealing with her feelings, agnes is pining, author is american, canon-atypical fluff, gertrude and agnes are honors students, the supernatural exists but it's a background to my gay love story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-06
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:55:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25753927
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miraline_tpp/pseuds/miraline_tpp
Summary: Agnes felt a gentle jolt of adrenaline when she looked at her, like a spark through her chest. Still, she had work to do. She looked down at the page in front of her, then stole another glance at Gertrude, still deadly focused. Normally, Agnes would be just as diligent, and frustration flickered through her at her distraction. There was no reason she shouldn’t be able to focus, unless--Oh.Oh, this was very bad.A fluffy college au featuring pining, slightly spooky professors, and Fahrenheit 451.
Relationships: (past), Adelard Dekker & Gertrude Robinson, Agnes Montague & Ronald Sinclair, Agnes Montague/Gertrude Robinson, Agnes Montague/Jude Perry, James Wright & Gertrude Robinson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 8
Collections: TMA Girls Week





	Tell Me What You Want This To Be

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Feeding the Fire by Hayley Kiyoko because I'm a basic lesbian
> 
> Content warnings: smoking mention, cults, canon-typical Jimmy-Magma-has-bones-in-his-office, discussion as well as a brief joke about Fahrenheit 451, sexism mention.
> 
> Let me know if I missed anything. Stay safe loves!

There was a letter from home waiting for Agnes. Truth be told, she hadn’t really expected any mail, but she always felt better after she checked and verified that there was nothing that needed her attention. The letter was an unwelcome surprise, but she didn’t have time to dwell on it now. Maybe if she ignored it, whatever it was about would pass by without her, leaving her to her own affairs.

She hurried outside, all too aware of the seconds ticking by on her watch. She was running late, and she could just picture the look Gertrude would give her when she sat down at their table. Eyebrows low, mouth straight and tight.

Luckily, it had cooled down enough that it wasn’t a trial to break into a jog. She passed under vibrant orange leaves, not yet fallen, and in the long shadows of buildings older than her great-grandparents. Her bag thumped at her side. It was near dinnertime, so most of the student traffic was around the dining hall, making it easy for Agnes to reach the library. Panting, she pushed the door open. 

Despite her rush, she took a moment to take a deep breath, inhaling the smell of dust and paper. It was nostalgic, in a way; her family’s homeschooling hadn’t lent itself to many friends as a child, and she spent a good number of years tucked in corners of local libraries or her own reading nook in her closet, trying to inhale their scent rather than the smell of cigarette smoke or burned meals. The smell of books was the closest she had to the feeling of meeting old friends again, and she welcomed it. 

She passed the librarian’s desk, nodding to Jurgen, the student attending it, and hurried through the stacks and up the stairs to the second floor. The table was tucked in a tiny, sunny nook by a window, an architectural oddity that Agnes didn’t know the name of. Gertrude was already there, auburn hair pulled into a tight bun, and metal-rimmed glasses slipping down her nose as she studied one of the books open in front of her. She had a coffee near her hand-- black, if Agnes remembered her preference right-- but it seemed completely untouched. 

Agnes tried to be unobtrusive as she slipped into the seat across from Gertrude. No use. The other girl’s sharp blue eyes locked on her in an instant. Agnes forced a small smile as her cheeks warmed.

“Sorry I’m late. I lost track of time.” 

“Well, you’re here now,” Gertrude said, much louder. While Agnes often had to be reminded to speak above a library volume, Getrude consistently had the opposite problem. “I was a bit late myself; Professor Wright wanted to meet again and discuss my progress.”

“Isn’t that the second time this week?”

“Yes. And it wasn’t a short one, either. He wanted to “explore the multitude of lenses through which to view the beliefs and activities of a cult.’”

Agnes frowned as she pulled out her books. “For a thesis about the prosecution of cult members, he seems quite fixated on the cults rather than the prosecution.”

Gertrude nodded emphatically. “Exactly. I asked him for historical cases and legal precedents to look into, but he spent a half hour talking about the semantic distinction between a cult and a religion. Honestly, at this point I half-believe the man’s in some cult himself.”

Agnes thought back to another study session, a few weeks ago. Gertrude had plenty to complain about when it came to her advisor, but bits and pieces stuck out in her mind. “Didn’t he tell you he keeps human bones in his office?”

“I think he was trying to make a joke, but I’m honestly not sure. Lord knows his office is full enough to be hiding them somewhere.”

Agnes nodded. She’d never been in Professor Wright’s office herself, but the fact that his specialty was in the occult and supernatural, paired with the unsettlingly detailed eye insignia hung on his office door, left her perfectly happy to leave the matter uninvestigated. 

“Anyhow, how has your research been going?”

Agnes grimaced. “I’m half-tempted to burn the book. The instructions are right on the cover.”

“You do see how that would be fantastically ironic, don’t you?” Agnes couldn’t help but crack a small smile at Gertrude’s smirk, even as she continued. 

“You’d think it would be easy to wade through a story about book-burning for fire imagery and symbolism, but I’m rather distracted by how much the main character hates his wife. Professor Molina gave me a few leads to look into, though.” 

“So long as you can survive the semester.”

“And keep my scholarship.” 

Agnes opened her books and started skimming for anything useful. A few days into the semester, Getrude had approached her after class and asked-- well, maybe informed would be a better word-- that they could be study partners. Gertrude was several inches shorter than Agnes, but she’d still felt intimidated. Something in her gaze was harder and heavier than concrete, leaving Agnes feeling pinned to the spot. Still, she had agreed, and ever since they had met twice a week to research their respective projects. It was nice to work separately but together, in companionable silence broken by the occasional complaint or finding. It was also nice to have a classmate to complain to.

Agnes wrote down a few notes in the margins of her thrifted copy of Fahrenheit 451, then glanced up at Gertrude. Her skin was pale, but still several shades tanner than her own, with a complexion that clung, even in October, to the long outdoor days of the summer before. Her brow was furrowed, intent on the copy of an old newspaper she was reading. She tapped a pen on the table softly, and in the light from the window she seemed to glow gold. Agnes felt a gentle jolt of adrenaline when she looked at her, like a spark through her chest. Still, she had work to do. She looked down at the page in front of her, then stole another glance at Gertrude, still deadly focused. Normally, Agnes would be just as diligent, and frustration flickered in her at her distraction. There was no reason she shouldn’t be able to focus, unless--

Oh.

Oh, this was very bad.

**Author's Note:**

> *cries* how the heck do I do italics???
> 
> A few disclaimers:   
> \- I have never read Fahrenheit 451. I asked my English-professor dad about books with fire, then read the Wikipedia summary and a few feminist analyses. I did learn how to spell "Fahrenheit" for this, though!  
> \- This is my first TMA fic.  
> \- I am American and honestly didn't do a ton of research on university in England circa the 1970s.  
> \- I will finish this. I have it fully outlined. That said, I make no promises as to /when/ I will finish it. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!


End file.
